Filtering



Oct. 19, 1954 v ABRAMS 2,691,883

FILTERING Filed Jan. 22, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f g- Q, 30

INVENTDR 1.01115 ABRAMS ATT DENEY L. V. ABRAMS Oct. 19, 1954 FILTERING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 22 1949 JNVENTUR Lums V. AERAMS ATTDRNEY Patented Oct. 19, 1954 FILTERING Louis V. Abrams, Chittenango, N. Y., assignor to Easy Washing Machine Corporation, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 22, 1949, Serial No. 72,191

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to filtering, and more particularly to filtering of domestic water supply immediately prior to utilizing such water for domestic laundry rinsing.

In laundry rinsing, effected by the passage of water through detergent-laden clothes, there is a tendency for such clothing to act as a filtering medium for the Water passing therethrough. Where impurities exist in such water which have an afiinity for clothing and are liable to stain such clothing, undesirable discoloration of the clothing may result. For eifective rinsing of soap and detergent from such clothing, it is highly desirable to centrifugally flush fresh rinse water through the clothes, but unless such water may be freed from elements therein which would cause staining, the effectiveness of such a rinsing procedure or any rinsing procedure, for that matter, is seriously impaired, resulting in discoloration of clothing which has been rendered spotlessly clean from the immediately previous washing procedure.

The present invention is directed to a filtering method and medium which, when utilized in conjunction with centrifugal rinsing or other rinsing methods, is effective to remove the staining elements which may be contained in domestic water prior to utilization of such water for laundry rinsing.

The invention has to do with a filtering procedure which is adapted to permit free passage of water and harmless impurities therein while removing therefrom such elements as would be liable to cause discoloration and staining in the rinsing process.

More particularly, the invention is directed to the utilization of a mass of unsized coarse mesh cotton or the equivalent thereof, through which rinse water may pass at a relatively slow rate, such that the fibers of such cotton may be slowly subjected to the staining qualities of such water prior to the passage of the Water to the rinsing operation.

The above and other novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is expressly understood that the drawings are employed for purposes of illustration only and are not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being bad for this purpose to the appended claim.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a washing machine having a filter attached, the washing machine having a washing compartment and a rins rig compartment;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the centrifugal rinsing apparatus of Figure 1, showing the filter connections in the rinse water supply line;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a filter or preferred form for producing the filtering effect desired;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, there will be seen a wash tub Ill and rinsing tub l2 suitably mounted upon a common frame M. A side panel l6 providing a filler panel between the tubs l0 and I2 may be arranged to carry a filter l8. In Figure 2, there is shown a cylindrical tub l2 having a perforate basket 2!] mounted therein upon a shaft 22 for rotation about a vertical axis. The basket contains a central perforated distributing tube 24 which may be conical and open at the top as at 26 and closed at the lower end as at 28. Water is admitted to the open end of such tube by a conduit 30 having an orifice 32 downwardly directed into the open end 26 of the cone along the axis of rotation of the cone and basket 20. Freshly washed clothing and the like L containing soap suds or detergent are placed within the basket 29, which is subsequently rotated at high speed, causing such laundry to mass on the exterior wall of the basket 20 somewhat in the manner illustrated in Figure 2. Introduction of clear water into the cone 24 from the conduit 36 results in a radial uniform distribution of water from the multitudinous cone orifices into the laundry, flushing such water through the laundry by centrifugal force, after which such water is thrown from the basket 20 through the apertures therein into the tub l2, whence such water is drained. The process described is similar to that described in Scheele Patent No. 2,595,609 and France et a1. Patent No. 2,628,488.

3 The filter :8, which is mounted on the panel IE, may comprise a pair of substantially similar casing members 34 and 35, each having a cylindrical portion 38 and 40 having attachment flanges 42 and M and dome-like ends 45 and 33 forming distributing chambers 47 and 59. The casing member 36 may be permanently secured to the back side of the panel as by a plurality of screws 50 and the casing member 46 may be attachably secured to the front face of the panel by thumb screws 52 coacting with key or pearshaped openings 54 in the flange 42. The casing member 46' has integrally secured in a fluidtight manner to its cylindrical portion 38 a sleeve 56 which, together with a perforated plate 58 and a removable perforated plate 66, forms a compartment 62 for containing filtering medium. The filter is described in more detail in an application of Dyer Patent No. 2,666,662.

It will be seen that rinse water will enter the filter through an inlet nipple 64, passing through filter medium contained in the chamber 62 and thereafter leave the filter through the outlet nipple 66, the efiluent then passing into the con duit 30 and being discharged directly into the open end 26 of the distributing cone 24. It will be seen that the chamber E2 is of relatively large diameter and shallow axial length, so that flow of water through the filter at the rate of three or four gallons per minute will result in an extremely low rate of fiow through the chamber 62.

In order to remove the undesirable elements of Water which might cause discoloration or staining if thrown directly upon the laundry contained within the basket 26, provision is made for retaining such staining elements of the water within the chamber 62 by providing a filter medium in the chamber composed of raw unsized coarse mesh cotton, which cotton may be in the form of three or four square yards of cheesecloth or gauze. Such material is untreated except for bleaching, washing, decontamination and similar operations. Such material may be stuffed into the chamber 62 by removing the plate 60, when the casing member 46 is temporarily removed from its fastening with the panel 16. Such material is loosely placed within the chamber 62 and the plate 69 replaced, after which the easing member 46 is secured in place. The filtering material is thus positioned in a manner such as to be exposed to a relatively slow flow of water therethrough, whereupon the raw cotton fibers will have ample time and opportunity to pick up the staining elements in the water and thereby prevent the flow of such staining elements into the centrifugal rinsing operation in the rinse basket 20. It will be understood that gauze or cheesecloth as described is composed of a multiplicity of fine filaments or threads with a maximum exposure of the cotton fibers of which the filaments are composed.

It has been found that material of the type described, when placed within the container 18, has the effect of picking up iron rust, copper salts, mud, sand, some forms of amorphous algae, and in fact material which would, if allowed to pass beyond the filter, stain the laundry within the basket 20. At the same time, the coarse mesh of the cotton within the chamber permits the passage of materials which are not harmful, such as coarse sand which by its passage through the filter and lack of afiinity to such filter material evidences no staining property, talc, various diatomaceous bodies, microscopic organisms often found in a finely divided state coated with calcium, bacteria, and the like. By provision of the coarse mesh cotton and the like, those materials contained within the Water which are not attracted to the raw cotton fibers to form a staining combination with the cotton fibers contained therein, pass on through, thereby permitting the filter to remain active over long periods of time without becoming clogged. The filter is in the nature of a labyrinth path which permits slow free flow of water therethrough, carrying with such water all those impurities which do not have an attraction for the cotton fibers contained within the filter. The filter thus remains clear over long periods of time and becomes plugged only after extended use or under conditions where the material picked up by the coarse mesh cotton is in high concentration in the water.

Most laundry is composed of cotton fabrics woven into cloth with sizing material of one kind or another, and while the sizing itself does not necessarily tend to stain as readily as the fibers, the cotton fibers are sufiiciently exposed as to be subject to staining where deleterious staining elements are contained Within the rinse water. However, by passing such water slowly through unsized coarse cotton mesh, adequate opportunity is afforded for the removal and accumulation of the staining elements within the filter chamber in the manner described. At the same time, impurities which do not have an affinity for the cotton mesh, pass on through.

In practice, the cheesecloth which is employed for filtering may, when the same becomes plugged with swarf or sludge diverted from the stream of water, may be washed with ordinary soap or detergent and if desired, may be subsequently bleached and thereafter used again, the material being rendered quite effective for reuse by such ordinary washing processes,

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. As various changes in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, reference will be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

A divisional application Serial No. 424,112 filed April 19, 1954, is directed to the method of filtering herein disclosed.

What is claimed is:

Laundry rinsing apparatus comprising, in combination, a centrifugal extractor, comprising a tub having a constantly open drain in the bottom wall thereof, a laundry-containing centrifugal extraction basket mounted for rotation within the tub, a rinse water distributor located centrally within said basket, having radial orifices for radial centrifugal discharge of rinse water into laundry contained in said basket, stationary means associated with said tub for supplying rinse water to said distributor, said stationary means including a conduit leading to said distributor at one end and adapted to be connected to a direct source of domestic water supply at the other end and entirely independent of said drain, a filter chamber arranged in said conduit intermediate the ends thereof of enlarged cross-section to permit a substantially reduced rate of flow of rinse water therethrough, and a mass of unsized loosely compacted fibrous cotton material filling said chamber, whereby all rinse water passing through said conduitis exposed tov said material for a substantial period of time at a reduced rate of flow to afford an opportunity for water bearing impurities having an afmity for such mass to stain such mass, said mass of material affording a free flow of water and impurities therethrough other than those having an affinity for such mass, said mass of material being thereby adapted to expend the staining potentialities of said impurities having an affinity for such mass prior to introduction into said distributor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Number 6 Name Date Jayne Oct. 1'7, 1916 Seymour July 24, 1917 Seitz Jan. 24, 1939 Smith July 8, 1941 Baron Feb. 17, 1942 Dunham Feb. 24, 1942 Huse et a1. Feb. 25, 1947 Neal June 10, 1947 Powers et a1 Jan. 2, 1951 

